IO 



Spring is the season when the bulk of the fry is 

 obtained. At this period grey mullet [Mugil labeo), 

 bass [Labrax lupus), and eels appear in great shoals ; 

 multitudes pass into the sluices and are captured. The 

 passage of the shoals of fry from the sea into estuaries 

 and even up rivers is technically termed montee by 

 French Culturists, a term which may be rendered into 

 English as the ascent of the fry. Although this takes 

 place principally in the spring in Western Europe, it 

 varies considerably with the species and scarcely any 

 month between February and October is without its 

 ascent. Thus at Arcachon the white mullet [Mugil 

 labeo) arrives as early as February and continues into 

 March. The common eel [Anguilla vulgaris) arrives 

 almost as soon in vast multitudes of strange transparent 

 larvae already about 7 centimetres (2 J inches) in length. 

 Bass appear chiefly during April and May, while the 

 shoals of the black mullet (Mugil chelo) do not usually 

 come till May and June. Another and greatly esteemed 

 mullet, Mugil cephalus, is still later in putting in an 

 appearance, September and October being its months of 

 ascent. The bulk of the fry other than of eels enters 

 with a size of from § to 2\ inches — the great shoals 

 are constituted of fry of this size. With the advance of the 

 season the young fishes attracted into the sluices de- 

 crease greatly in number concurrently with considerable 

 increase in individual size. 



Of the two operations involved in the freshening of 

 the pond water, that involved in the running off of a 

 portion, the operation of faire deboirc, is conducted very 

 much in the same manner as the manipulation of the 

 sluice when shoals of fry are to be captured. As in the 

 latter operation, when the tide begins to fall, the screen 

 at the sea end is either removed or raised sufficiently to 

 give a clear passage, and then one or both of the sluice 

 doors are raised very slightly, usually from 3 to 6 

 centimetres (1^ to about i\ inches) and never 

 more than io centimetres (4 inches). By this means a 

 stream of water flows from the pond into the sea and 

 continues to flow not only till low tide, but also during 

 a portion of the flood and until the rising tide attains an 

 equal level with the water of the pond. At this moment, 

 unless it has been done before, the sluice doors 



